Silvia Bastow, Subject Leader for MFL, Ercall Wood Academy, UK Every academic year, many language teachers are faced with a similar scenario: in September, they take on a new Year 10 GCSE class, they spend months progressively teaching a range of vocabulary and grammatical concepts in context, which they regularly retrieve, space and interleave – […]
Richard Jones, Deputy Headteacher, Zaytouna Primary School, UK Since the introduction of the National Curriculum in 2014 and the ever-growing emphasis on children ‘knowing more (including knowing how to do more) and remembering more’ (Ofsted, 2019), ensuring that children consolidate their learning and do not simply ‘perform’ has become a particular priority within my practice. […]
Morgan Chatten, Cross-Trust Director of English – Teaching, Learning and Curriculum, Turner Trust, UK The purpose of this article is to clarify what is meant by metacognition and to dispel myths and misunderstanding regarding its origin and use in contemporary education. The article aims to support leaders of teaching and learning to consider how they […]
Bethan Coles, Teacher Education, University of Bedfordshire, UK Introduction ‘Learning is deeper and more durable when it’s effortful. Learning that’s easy is like writing in sand, here today and gone tomorrow.’ (Brown et al., 2014, p. 3) Make it Stick: The Science of Effective Learning explores a cognitive science (CS) approach to learning, which has […]
Lewis Adams (CTeach), Assistant Headteacher, UK Increasingly, education is becoming about understanding and applying cognitive science in the classroom. The new Early Career Framework (ECF) actively seeks to train our new teachers to teach their students to ‘retrieve information from memory’ (DfE, 2019, p. 11), and Ofsted have now defined learning as ‘an alteration in […]
William Payne, Master of Education Student, University of Derby, UK Paivio (1971) identifies dual coding theory (DCT) as the use of visual stimuli alongside language-based input, utilising the brain’s cognitive capabilities to support memory and information processing. However, Clark and Paivio (1991) apply the theory specifically to the context of education and identify its applications […]
Rachael Thornton, Head of Psychology and Head of Year 12, Dulwich College, Shanghai Pudong, China The notion of teaching students effective study habits is not a new phenomenon, with research indicating that student study skills and motivation are just as strong a predictor of student academic performance when compared with traditional measures, such as prior […]
Claire Badger, Edward Hackett and Caitlin Whitby, The Godolphin and Latymer School, UK Discussions with students around effective learning have traditionally been left until they are given dedicated ‘study skills’ sessions as they approach high-stakes examinations. In a recent article, Firth (2022) argued that the foundations for effective learning need to be in place much […]
Sayeh Mariner, SLE and EYFS Lead, Essa Primary Academy, UK Matt Shurlock, Teacher, Brookburn Primary School, UK This reflective article considers the steps taken to apply research recommendations within Early Years classrooms to encourage pupils to be independent and competent learners. The focus will be on a dinosaur-inspired, talk-based classroom activity designed to practically apply […]
Nicole Still (CTeach), Curriculum Leader for English, Thinking Schools Academy Trust, UK When undertaking the research-based enquiry project in the final phase of my journey to secure Chartered Teacher Status, I identified Year 10 students at the beginning of their English literature GCSE as suitable novice learners on whom to explore the possible impacts of […]
Dr Kirstin Mulholland, Assistant Professor of Education, Northumbria University, UK In my own primary classroom, I can call to mind many pupils who – although often hardworking and enthusiastic – had little understanding of the ‘why’ in maths, and found it challenging to understand why particular approaches were needed for certain tasks. They could not […]
Jo Mead, 1:1 Teaching Assistant, Hayes Primary School, UK The role of a 1:1 teaching assistant (TA), while supporting the teacher’s pedagogical role, is to enable students to access teaching, facilitating inclusion whilst aiming for independence. This project set out to explore ways in which to improve one child’s inclination towards – and ability to […]
Thomas Harriott, Senior Leader, Riddlesdown Collegiate, UK; Doctoral Researcher, University of Cambridge, UK Introduction This article outlines the findings of a study that sought to improve practitioner understanding of how students regulate their learning in classrooms and how this relates to theory. Being able to regulate the learning process is essential for effective learning both […]
George Davies-Craine, Subject Leader for Geography and Digital Learning Lead, Dr Challoner’s Grammar School, UK Learning and revision: An introduction Cognitive science has shown that regular testing of students’ knowledge is one of the most effective methods of learning and revising material for assessments (Dehaene, 2020; Dunlosky et al., 2015). While the process of revising […]
Sarah Hopkinson, Secondary mathematics teacher, UK; MSc student, University of Oxford, UK Self-concept and self-efficacy, referred to in this study as self-beliefs, hold positively correlating relationships with mathematics achievement (Cvencek et al., 2018; Burns et al., 2020); therefore, low self-beliefs can hinder students’ learning (Bong and Skaalvik, 2003). Currently within The Academy, the inner London […]
Kate Bridge (CTeach), Head of Physics, Haberdashers Girls School, UK Agarwal (2020) reflected that all good teachers engage in retrieval, but our focus is wrong. She stated that ‘we sometimes rely more than we should on getting information “into” students’ heads rather than having them pull the information out’. Instead, when completing formative assessments, we […]
Jon Tarrant, Creator of physbang.com and former Head of Sciences (retired), UK Multiple-choice questions (MCQs) are carefully designed to identify key knowledge but they generally rely on either rewarding correct answers or penalising wrong answers (Lesage et al., 2013). There is normally no record of students who hesitated between the correct answer and a well-designed […]
Alexandra Morgan and Emmajane Milton, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK There is an increasingly dominant narrative internationally that classroom practice should be research-informed and that teachers themselves benefit from being engaged in research-informed teacher enquiry (BERA/RSA, 2014). In this article, aimed at all educators, we suggest that care is needed when engaging in […]
John Paul Mynott, School of Education, University of Aberdeen, UK Audrey Buchanan, Quality Improvement Officer, Moray Council, UK Pilar Arqued, Primary Teacher, Aberdeen City, UK Dougie Beck, Principal Teacher (Primary), Highlands Council, UK Andrew Boulind, Headteacher, Aberdeenshire Council, UK Colin Carswell, Teacher, Argyll and Bute Council, UK Jo Clark, Principal Teacher (Primary), Argyll and Bute […]
Charles Davies, Teacher of RS, Head of Year 12 and Leader of Learning, The Judd School, UK What stops teachers from engaging in educational research? Blake Harvard (2017), in his ‘Effortful Educator’ blog, identifies three main explanations: lack of time, lack of access to useful materials and difficulty interpreting the muddy waters that characterise the […]
